(Chris Humphreys – USA TODAY Sports)
It’s good to know Tim Connelly actually did something as the Nuggets general manager yesterday. He started his day by trading Evan Fournier and a second-round draft pick for Arron Afflalo, and he completed the evening by trading Doug McDermott (Denver’s 11th pick) and Anthony Randolph to the Bulls for Jusuf Nurkic (Chicago’s 16th pick), Gary Harris (Chicago’s 19th pick) and a future second rounder.
It’s a move that address the Nuggets’ need. They have couple of players that can do well in outside shooting by acquiring Afflalo and Harris. Offense was a problem with the Nuggets this past season.
Still, these moves do not make the Nuggets a great team. It does not make the Nuggets a playoff team when one compares them to other Western Conference teams. The Nuggets are nothing more than a 11th seeded team at best in a power conference.
What the Nuggets need is a game changer in keeping up with these teams. That’s why Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla has the right idea about the Nuggets needing to find a way to trade for Kevin Love. Getting the Timberwolves forward gives the team a chance to beat these teams by pairing him up with Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari.
As good as Lawson and Gallinari are, they are nice role players at best. They are not game-changers. Both of them haven’t taken the next step of being great. It’s hard to think they will. That’s why the Nuggets need to find someone else that can be. There’s no question that is Connelly’s thought process.
The second-year Nuggets general manager must use his draft night trade as assets to help complete the Love trade. The Timberwolves are going to have to get value for their star sooner or later or risk getting nothing when he leaves as a free agent. The Timberwolves forward made it clear he is leaving Minnesota as soon as he is a free agent. The Wolves could have something in Harris, Nurkic and Kenneth Faried. That’s on Connelly to make it happen by selling his offer to the Wolves.
Yes, there is a possibility Love could leave the Nuggets when next season is over. So what? They still have to make the trade. They need to make it so they can be relevant in town. They have to make the trade so they can be back in the NBA landscape again. It’s about winning games and being entertaining on cold winter nights. Besides the Nuggets can always trade Love during the trade deadline if it does not work out.
If the Nuggets are going to play it safe, they might as well tank the season for next few years in an attempt to get the top pick in the draft. Mediocrity does not do it in the Western Conference. A mediocre Western Conference team might as well be a bad team. That’s why the Nuggets need to make a power trade if they are in it to win in a power conference.
Josh Kroenke is an executive that does not have the appetite for tanking. He knows it does not work. The Nuggets have been bad in their history, and it did not guarantee a top pick. They were so bad yet they did not win the 2003 NBA Draft that would give them LeBron James. In fact, they were fortunate to draft Carmelo Anthony as the third pick after the Pistons were stupid enough to draft Darko Milicic as their second pick.
Kroenke has to know mediocre does not do it, either. So he has no choice but to tell his general manager to go for it in getting Love even if it’s a rental.
The Nuggets should be in the business of winning. They owe it to their fans to go for it. Most importantly, they owe it to themselves. It would be refreshing if they made the Love trade. If they can get someone even better that will stay long-term, that’s even better. Either way, they have to try.
The Nuggets can’t be like the Rockies where they blame everything on luck. They can’t be like the Rockies where they say it’s hard to win.
Sports is about taking risks. Playing safe is a guarantee route to failure. Showing fans they tried is all what fans ask from their team.
The Nuggets want to talk about being a franchise that is into winning and being an ideal franchise for guys that want to play for them. This is their opportunity to back it up by making a game-changing move.
They need to think big in getting their big guy in Love.
Yesterday’s trades do not get Denver talking about their local pro basketball franchise. It does not have the NBA buzzing.
That should be a sign that Connelly has work to do.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
